The dollar bill: R.I.P.?

The deficit-cutting super committee may try to scrap the greenback, in the hopes that Americans will finally embrace the little-loved dollar coin  

The endangered dollar bill
(Image credit: Guntmar Fritz/Corbis)

Americans have pointedly rejected $1 coins for decades, but that was when they could pay with a greenback instead. Now a new proposal to phase out the dollar bill in favor of a new $1 coin is afoot. The congressional "super committee" charged with slashing the deficit says that such a move would save the government about $5.6 billion over 30 years, citing a Government Accountability Office estimate. Is it really time to kill the bill? Here's what you should know:

How would switching to coins save money?

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